Wind power is considered one of the cleanest, most environmentally friendly energy sources presently available, and wind turbines have gained increased attention in this regard. A modern wind turbine typically includes a tower, a generator, a gearbox, a nacelle, and one or more rotor blades. The nacelle includes a rotor assembly coupled to the gearbox and to the generator. The rotor assembly and the gearbox are mounted on a bedplate support frame located within the nacelle. More specifically, in many wind turbines, the gearbox is mounted to the bedplate via one or more torque supports or arms. The one or more rotor blades capture kinetic energy of wind using known airfoil principles. The rotor blades transmit the kinetic energy in the form of rotational energy so as to turn a shaft coupling the rotor blades to a gearbox, or if a gearbox is not used, directly to the generator. The generator then converts the mechanical energy to electrical energy that may be deployed to a utility grid.
More specifically, the majority of commercially available wind turbines utilize multi-stage geared drivetrains to connect the turbine blades to electrical generators. The wind turns the turbine blades, which spin a low speed shaft. The low speed shaft is coupled to an input shaft of a gearbox, which has a higher speed output shaft connected to a generator. Thus, the geared drivetrain aims to increase the velocity of the mechanical motion. The gearbox and the generator are typically separately mounted to the bedplate. More specifically, the output shaft of the gearbox and the input shaft of the generator are separately supported by gearbox bearings and generator bearings, respectively. Thus, the gearbox and corresponding input shaft are typically mounted to the bedplate via one or more torque arms.
Over time, normal operating loads and forces from the wind act on the wind turbine components described above and can subject the components to various vibrations, deformations, distortions, and/or pitch movements. Thus, the drivetrain of a modern wind turbine is typically mounted to the bedplate with one or more elastic components configured therebetween so as to absorb various forces and vibrations acting on the wind turbine in an effort to prevent damage. For example, in certain configurations, modern wind turbines may include one or more large elastic components configured between the torque arm of the gearbox and the bedplate. Though this configuration is configured to reduce vibrations in the drivetrain, it may not provide optimal stiffness of the bedplate since the gearbox and the generator are separately mounted to the bedplate via one or more torque arms.
Thus, a new and improved system and method directed to improving bedplate stiffness that also controls vibrations and transmission of such vibrations in a wind turbine, e.g. gearbox-generated vibrations, would be welcomed in the art. Accordingly, the present subject matter is directed to a system and method having one or more flexible components configured between the torque arm and the ring gear of the gearbox so as to improve bedplate stiffness and control the aforementioned vibrations.